Browse > Home / NASCAR / Ryan Newman gives Stewart-Haas first Cup pole at the 600

Ryan Newman gives Stewart-Haas first Cup pole at the 600

Written by Scott Keller · May 23, 2009

Ryan Newman did what he does best, putting his car on pole for the Coca-Cola 600. The Rocket’s 43rd pole position was the first for the Stewart-Haas team.

With Kyle Bush, Jeff Gordon, Mark Martin and Jimmy Johnson rounding out the top five, there were few suprises in the first few rows.   Junior starts deep in the field from the 27th spot.

It is exciting to In this 600 miler, the starting spot is not really of much importance.  Be sure to drink a lot of Coca-Cola to stay awake for all 400 laps (unless you are a Jeff Gordon or Junior fan and prefer to imbibe in a Pepsi or Amp energy drink).  But seriously, I want to see a show of hands: Who can watch all of this race without falling asleep at least once?  After drinking a sixer of Corona and eating way too much BBQ on Sunday afternoon, only the strongest survive.

————

Here’s a full report from GM Racing:

CHEVY PRESS NOTES - CHARLOTTE QUALIFYING
Concord, NC - Ryan Newman behind the wheel of his No. 39 U.S. Army Impala SS will lead the field to the green flag for the 50th running of the Coca Cola 600 Sunday at Lowe’s Motor Speedway (LMS).

The 28.651-second/188.475 m.p.h. lap landed Newman the 44th pole of his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career and his eighth pole at LMS.

Five Team Chevy drivers captured four of the top-five and five of the top-10 starting spots for the season’s longest race. Jeff Gordon, No. 24 DuPont Impala SS, will roll off third in the 43-car field for the 400-lap/600-mile race.

Mark Martin, No. 5 CARQUEST/Kellogg’s Impala SS, will start fourth with Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Lowe’s Impala SS, starting fifth.

Juan Pablo Montoya, No., 42 Target Impala SS, scored the ninth starting spot.

RYAN NEWMAN, U.S. ARMY IMPALA SS — Pole Winner:

“It was a lot of fun tonight to drive the U.S. Army Chevrolet
for Stewart-Haas Racing. Thanks to Tony and Gene for the opportunity. Just a good lap. I really wasn’t totally satisfied with the lap. But obviously you don’t have to be when you have a fast race car. The guys did a good job. Just happy to be in the position and look forward to the rest of the weekend.

“If we could sweep the weekend, that would be really awesome. We’ll just keep our chin up and keep doing what we are doing. It is a situation where you can’t be satisfied with your performance, you have to keep working on it. And we’ll do that.

“We had a good car in the All-Star race so we have a new car because we crashed that one. It is a very competitive race car, we proved that tonight.”

JIMMIE JOHNSON, NO. 48 LOWE’S IMPALA SS, QUALIFIED 5TH:

“We like to win everything we can including practice and qualifying. Maybe a little disappointed that we really didn’t put up a big number but still a very respectable lap, a lap that I am proud of. Oddly enough, this qualifying session we’ve learned some things. we had some issues in the All-Star Race that we couldn’t adjust around. It seems as if we have fixed them, so, we aren’t on the pole tonight, but I think there are some good things to come for the race.”

MARK MARTIN, NO. 5 CARQUEST/KELLOGG’S IMPALA SS, QUALIFIED 4TH:

“This day and age you have to get more than it wants to give and I don’t feel like I go more than car was giving. So, we are driving a fast race car, having a blast and will get ready to go racing on Sunday.”

MARTIN TRUEX, JR., NO. 1 BASS PRO SHOPS/TRACKER BOATS IMPALA SS QUALIFIED 12TH:

“It was a really good lap for our Bass Pro Chevy. We struggled a bit in practice and we couldn’t get a fast time, we struggled with the car so that was a huge pickup for us. Lots and lots of changes. I am optimistic going in to Saturday’s practice, because we really made some changes that made the car feel good. So we are going the right direction. That was a good lap for us from what we had in practice today.”

David Gilliland No. 71 TRG Motorsports Chevrolet Impala SS — Qualified 29th:

“We were 39th in practice and struggled more with the car than we really have all year so far. We usually unload a little stronger than that off the trailer. It was tough. We changed a bunch of stuff for qualifying and I really didn’t know what to expect. First and foremost we wanted to get in the race and we are comfortably in the field. I am proud of all of the guys. We were not good in practice. No one lost focus. The team dug down and made the changes that helped to get us in the race. We have a direction to go now and Slugger (Labbe, crew chief) usually comes back the next day with a fix that makes us faster.

“I was loose in a tight off of the corners in qualifying. Not as bad as I was in practice. We made gains on it. We will take another shot at it in Saturday’s practice and be ready for the race on Sunday.”

Kevin Harvick, No. 29 Shell-Pennzoil Chevrolet Impala SS — Qualified 22nd

“That was a pretty solid lap for the Shell-Pennzoil team. That’s the first time in the last two weeks I didn’t chatter the tires in the corners. We didn’t practice well at all, but Gil (Martin) and the guys made a ton of changes after practice and I think we may have hit on something. It’s definitely a step in the right direction. We’ll work on it Saturday and hopefully have something to work with in the (Coke) 600.”

Source: GM Racing Press Release

STARTING GRID
Pos 		 Speed 		 Driver
1		188.475		Ryan Newman
2		188.258		Kyle Busch
3		188.193		Jeff Gordon
4		188.166		Mark Martin
5		187.82		Jimmie Johnson
6		187.493		Kasey Kahne
7		187.422		Mike Bliss
8		187.396		Brian Vickers
9		187.188		Juan Montoya
10		187.169		Bill Elliott
11		187.162		Joe Nemechek
12		186.916		Martin Truex Jr.
13		186.864		Denny Hamlin
14		186.832		Joey Logano*
15		186.825		Elliott Sadler
16		186.735		Greg Biffle
17		186.599		Kurt Busch
18		186.574		Scott Speed*
19		186.548		Carl Edwards
20		186.477		Bobby Labonte
21		186.368		David Reutimann
22		186.233		Kevin Harvick
23		186.22		Marcos Ambrose
24		186.181		Clint Bowyer
25		186.014		Dave Blaney
26		185.97		Sam Hornish Jr.
27		185.829		Dale Earnhardt Jr.
28		185.778		Tony Stewart
29		185.707		David Gilliland
30		185.605		Matt Kenseth
31		185.592		Paul Menard
32		185.433		Max Papis*
33		185.319		Jamie McMurray
34		185.173		David Ragan
35		185.096		David Stremme
36		184.704		Casey Mears
37		184.59		Robby Gordon
38		184.338		A.J. Allmendinger
39		183.949		Michael Waltrip
40		183.281		Jeff Burton
41		 		Tony Raines+
42		 		Reed Sorenson+
43		 		Scott Riggs

Filed Under NASCAR 

Comments

Got something to say?

You must be logged in to post a comment.